The Original
by Audiodelus
Summary: Young heroes, I was once like you. I was once a Wild Card, a Spiritualist, one of Fate's Chosen ones. However, I did not have the courage, the knowledge, the understanding, the expression or diligence. Now, I serve fate, watching, following and silently waiting. [Tentative One-shot] [Guess Who The Protagonist is!]


**Fog**

_n._

**1. **Condensed water vapor in cloudlike masses lying close to the ground and limiting visibility.

**2.**

**a. **An obscuring haze, as of atmospheric dust or smoke.

**b. **A mist or film clouding a surface, as of a window, lens, or mirror.

**3. **A cloud of vaporized liquid, especially a chemical spray used in fighting fires.

**4.**

**a. **A state of mental vagueness or bewilderment.

**b. **Something that obscures or conceals; a haze:

**5. **A blur on a developed photographic image.

Fog.

Fog everywhere. It's been a long time.

But I remember. There didn't used to be this much fog.

Blue skies.

Lush green grass.

Sunlight so bright, it hurt to look at.

But now, it is but a shadow of its former self.

Even from the top of this hill, all that the eyes can see is fog.

I looked back down at the small quivering mass of shadow next to me, its two small blue hypnotic eyes gazing back up at me in interest.

I do not know why it followed me. Usually the shadows flee at my mere presence.

Perhaps this one is different.

_Hello, Little Shadow._

Responding to my probe quicker than I would have imagined, it tilted its head, all the while staring at me.

It can hear me, but whether or not it can understand me is another question. But it does not matter. Many things have not mattered, for a long, long time.

_Little Shadow, let me tell you a story. It is the sad story of a man who could not do what needed to be done. I can only hope that perhaps when you grow up, you might take my story to heart, and perhaps change yourself for the better._

_It was a long, long time ago. I forget how many different moons have past, but I wasn't always like this. I had friends, family and spirits. They called me a Spiriter, you know? I had so many spirits. Nice ones, nasty ones, silent ones and noisy ones. It was like divine magic. I could talk to them when the world seemed hopeless, and they would talk back providing confidence. When the village was under attack, I would defend with all my might, my faithful Spirits at my side. If I needed to escape reality, I could go through the blue door and talk to my spirits, or even 'him', the long nosed one. He used to be nice, you know. I never once thought it would end up like this. But I digress, the dead stay dead and no amount of mourning will change that._

_You know, I met a kid once, many years ago. I remember watching him, walking in stride with all the confidence in the world and then some. I guess he kind of reminded me of myself, in a way. It was like nothing fazed him, not the moving shadows, not the green moon, not even the upright coffins in the streets. I believe he had headphones on too, stylish ones. I never did see him without them on though. Despite his strange music obsession, he had the smell of death constantly around him though. I mean, shadows smell a bit like death, sure, but his smell was… vile. Repulsive. _

_It was a mystery at the time. How could someone so vile, become a Spiriter? How could he walk with such confidence, make friends and complete his contract knowing he had something that rivals death festering inside of him? I remember that one night when he signed the contract more vividly than any other. I was in corner, watching as he conversed with death. I'm not sure if he knew it himself at the time though. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Humans of this era don't seem to be able to tap into their spirits as well as they used to. Could he do it? Could be succeed where I failed, even with his handicap?_

_So I endeavoured to assist him where possible. It was also what 'he' wanted after all. It's not like I can disobey 'him' at this point. Even if I could, I deserve this. That much I'm sure of. _

_I left chests in the Shadow Hive for him and his 'friends'. Though he was skilled, he kept moving at a pace unsuited for his progression and 'he' ordered me to barricade the stairs multiple times to stop him until he was ready. Perhaps in the future, the chosen Spiriters will be less hot-headed. He did manage to find some spirits to help him, although he lacked any bonds with them. They still seemed to gather power from his social links with his human friends though. I suppose quantity over quality is the way 'he' wants them to be like now. _

_There was a few times where I was told to by 'him' to go and give him an incentive to move up the floors when he dallied too long on a single floor. He must have heard something coming though, since he made his way up soon enough before I could get too close. 'He' seemed quite happy with his progress though, enough so that he actually looked at me once while addressing me. _

_Surprisingly, for his inherent skill, he made a lot of noise. I spent quite a lot of time on the upper floors clearing out some of the larger shadow's that had moved down the tower towards his group. It's a good thing that shadows can sense my superiority. I suppose it's just the inherent nature of the chosen ones._

_Of course, in time, he perfected his skill, calling out his spirits and swapping them like he had been using guns his whole life. Given a few more centuries, he might be able to rival my own skills. It seemed 'his' faith in him proved to be worthwhile. I was actually ordered to test him and actually ended up battling him just before he was about to finish his contract. I'm not sure what 'his' goals were in that, but despite his questionable orders, I don't regret testing him. Feeling the true power of a 'Wild Card', as 'he' calls it, gave me a nostalgic feeling. The feeling was quite unlike my own, but similar at the same time. It was less intense in richness, yet I could feel multitudes of links. He was lucky to have that many people supporting him. Maybe that was why I was drawn to him. He had what I lacked. Of course, I was beaten flawlessly. It was inevitable. When comparing the power's of the chosen one's, the one with more links will prevail. It's humanity's will, after all._

_I watched him succeed where I could not and watched him pay for my past failures. I visit him sometimes, you know. It's a bit noisy there, but I do pay my respects, not that it's worth anything. It's the least I can do._

The feeling of someone calling my name rang through my head. It seemed 'he' was calling me. Closing my eyes in resignation, I looked down at the small shadow next to me. I suppose I should thank it for listening to me. Yes, I shall grant you an identity.

_Your name is Kuma._

With those parting thoughts, I moved through the blue door.

The first thing I saw, seemed to be a vehicle of some sort, surrounded by fog. So, it seems the fog might finally be lifted. If I focused my attention enough, I could see large red arches reminiscent of temples in the distance, Torii perhaps, but unless I wanted to explore, I would not find anything new. 'He' wouldn't be too happy with me poking around in someone else's soulroom at any rate. An odd choice for a soulroom though. If I remember correctly, the blue haired one's was an elevator. I guess 'he' needs to finish up his discussion with the new chosen one. Even from all the way out here, his presence in the air is undeniable. It's untamed yet powerful. It seems fate is not taking any chances.

A few minutes later of idly waiting and the limo dissolved, leaving 'him' and the women called "Margaret", if I remember correctly. I watched at a distance as they conversed quietly, 'his' hands moving and pointing to different cards on the table while Margaret nodded in turn, and at one point flipping one of the cards quickly. Probably discussing his future, if anything.

A few minutes later, the surrounding fog faded away as the world transformed into the inside of a tall, pearl white tower room, with a matching circular table surrounded by chairs. Glancing downwards, I noted idly that in contrast to the room, my own garments stood out horribly, compared to their regal looking outfits of blue.

Soon enough, 'he' called out to me to move forward, while beginning to pack his cards away.

"Hello, ▉▉▉▉ " 'he' said in a monotonous tone, his gaze lingering at the formation of cards. It was the kind of voice you would direct to an illegitimate child that you wished didn't exist. If only I was deserving of even that. I turned slightly and gave a bow to Margaret, who in turn smiled, and nodded with slight warmth in her eyes, before turning back to her compendium. Oh, if only she knew, then she too would probably scorn me. After all, it was my failure as a chosen one that led to the need for Elizabeth. They really do look strikingly similar. Elizabeth was more expressive competitively though.

"That was the new Wild Card. He too will fulfill his destiny. See to it that he does not fall prematurely. Begone."

And with those scornful and short parting words, the chains around my chest increased in weight as I was dismissed back to my own damp soulroom that was devoid of anything but darkness. As stoic as usual I see. No surprise there.

Unable to move due to the chains weight, I resigned myself to sitting there until 'he' needed me and decided to think about the new Chosen One. Will he too, fail his destiny, or will he succeed?

No, it does not matter to me. I will continue to follow 'his' orders until my mistakes have been rectified, even if it takes thousands of years. These heavy chains that bind me are proof of that. Because I committed the largest sin of them all.

I let mankind know true despair.

**A/N**

**This story is pretty much just for me to get a feel for what people think quality-wise.** I had a problem where I kept using "I" as a sentence starter and went back and changed half the story to fix it.** So, tell me! What can I do better? What types of things did I do really well on? Point out my blaring mistakes!**

If i'm going to write a story, I want to make sure its god damn near as perfect as possible. Emulate Gabriel Blessing quality of writing from the get-go. If I get positive responses, then I'll start writing more. Either the prequel to this that's an actual story or another fan-fiction all-together. I dunno.

**Every character in this story is a legit character. Think of it as a challenge to see if you can pick out who the formless "shadow" is and who the "protagonist" is.** I went out of my way to make sure every character except Elizabeth/Margaret is not named. Most of the character's should be obvious though. The protagonist might be a bit hard though. For the most part, everything he does in this story is unexplained in the games. So he could have done it. (As far as I know.) He doesn't have a history, or backstory. Or characterisation. So I gave him one. It's a bit out there, but well, why not.

I wrote this as it came to my head one night and didn't leave. Opinions are welcomed. This is pretty much my take on the character that is the protagonist of this story.

Yeah, he calls the 'Wild Card' power 'Spirits' due to the fact that back when he first legit Wild Card under Igor's lead, they actually talked and bonded with their Persona's and made them powerful that way, rather than gathering them, then powering them using social links due to the power of mankind. Modern method is a bit more straightforward and goes for pure statistical power while Spirit method is more of a versatility type of thing. Complete non-canon, but I thought i'd put that in there to make it more interesting. Yes, if you didn't notice, the first Wild Card failed and caused true despair to mankind. Go look up what shadows originated from if you don't know then put 2 and 2 together, I guess. Full circle backstory-ing!


End file.
